Casabe Latin Bistro (CLOSED)

Having helmed the debut of clubby restaurant Gabbana in Queens a few months back, chef Ricardo Cardona (Hudson Terrace) returns to Manhattan to consult on the menu of this upscale Nuevo Latino eatery. Green and yellow walls, plus weekly live salsa music, are meant to foster a Latin vibe, while the sprawling menu roves through Central and South America, and across the pond to Spain. There’s Cuban black-bean soup, an Argentine churrasco served with three house-made chimichurris, and Spanish-style seafood paella. The bi-level space has two bars, offering seasonally flavored mojitos and cocktails like the Barcelona, a sangria made with apricot liqueur, sweet calvados and fizzy cava.